Russia and the Arctic Conundrum

Modern War Institute

John Amble

Government, News

4.7 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2023

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Arctic geopolitics are characterized by features that set the region apart from others. Eveything from governance structures to the way Arctic states engage with one another to the way they tackle shared challenges and address disputes—these all look different in the Arctic than elsewhere. But Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine led to a disruption in Arctic engagement, with the seven other Arctic states suspending participation in Arctic Council activities for the duration of Russia's chairmanship of the organization. This raises important questions: Is a return to engagement and cooperation even possible in the future? And what are the long-term implications of halting engagement likely to be? To explore these tricky issues and better understand Russian, American, and other stakeholders' strategic interests in the region, John Amble is joined on this episode by Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan, codirector of MWI's Project 6633 and the author of a new book, Red Arctic: Russian Strategy Under Putin.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Conflict in the Arctic, quite frankly, is not good for anyone.
0:06.0	It is not good for Russia, it is not good for Denmark, it is not good for Norway, for the US.
0:11.0	Countries in that region should expect to see a normalised presence of China.
0:17.0	Without the ability to engage on areas of common challenge, there's no way that you can build the confidence measures that you need to reduce risk.
0:29.3	Hey, welcome back to another episode of the Modern War Institute podcast.
0:32.9	I'm John Amble, editorial director at MWI, and I'm joined today by Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan. Among other things,
0:38.9	she is co-director of MWI's Project 6633, an initiative focused on polar security, and a first
0:45.8	sea lord five-eyes fellow for the Royal Navy. She is also the author of a recently published book
0:50.7	called Red Arctic, Russian Strategy under Putin.
0:54.3	In geopolitical terms, the Arctic has a number of unique features that really set it apart
0:58.3	from other regions.
0:59.7	Its governance structures, the way Arctic states engage with one another, the way they tackle
1:03.6	shared challenges, and address disputes.
1:06.1	This is all a little bit different in the Arctic than elsewhere.
1:09.1	But with renewed strategic competition between the United States and its allies on one hand and states like Russia on the other,
1:14.5	and especially against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and the subsequent
1:19.1	efforts to sanction and politically isolate Moscow in response, is this sort of engagement and
1:24.3	cooperation that has characterized the Arctic for the past few decades still possible.
1:29.1	And is it strategically wise to pursue Arctic engagement with Russia given all this happening
1:33.5	today?
1:34.7	Dr. Buchanan addresses those questions and more in this episode.
1:38.3	Before we get to it, as always, just a couple of quick notes.
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